


Working Title: Alpha

by Cavanaughpark09



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha - Freeform, Alpha Derek, Beacon Hills, F/M, Gen, M/M, beta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-05 05:38:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4167939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cavanaughpark09/pseuds/Cavanaughpark09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one quite remembers when werewolves became the accepted, and even marked with an elevated stature in California, but now it seems like it has always been that way.  </p><p>When a wolf in a powerful clan comes of age and becomes an alpha he or she is assigned a territory, asked to choose a mate and strengthen the community.  Some people treat them as celebrities, some fear them, and some are just trying to maintain their own lives.  When the Hales assign a new alpha to Beacon Hills a decade after a fire drove them out Stiles, fresh out of college and not sure what to do next, stumbles into helping him figure it out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is very much a work in progress, maybe even a teaser of what's to come as I really want to be mostly done with this story before posting too much. You're likely to only see one more chapter shortly.

No one quite remembers when werewolves became accepted, and even marked with an elevated stature in California, but now it seems like it has always been that way.  Attacks, injuries are rare in most circumstances.  It’s the humans who do the most damage.  Traditions have been steadily intermingling and growing together for years, a lot of things seem normal even though the general public still isn't all that knowledgeable about werewolves.

The one tradition that remains a standout is the alpha coronation.  There are prominent families in the werewolf community, certain families that seem to churn out alphas.  Offspring are born as betas and when they reach a certain age and maturity the change happens.  Almost immediately they need to be given their own space, their own place to build a pack.  Though these families do tend to drift and are not specifically bound to places the tradition there is the same – find a mate and expand the family.

For whatever location they are bound to an alpha may go into the city or town and from its population chose a mate.  There are of course those who flock to the privilege, but a large majority of the population still fear the unknown.

There hadn’t been an alpha in Beacon Hills for roughly a decade.  There had been a fire that had destroyed the Hale estate, set off in preserve.  Several members of the extended family had been killed and the alpha’s mate severely burned.  He’d survived but as a turned werewolf lived with scars and injuries that didn’t heal properly.  There were always rumors of failing health.  They’d left soon after and with the case unsolved they’d stayed away, leaving behind stories and gossip about who had set the fire and who remained in the family.  How could they ever trust anyone outside of their pack again?

Stiles knew all this.  He knew it from growing up the kid of the sheriff and of a woman of immeasurable knowledge, and even more from getting his hands on everything he could possibly read and absorb, especially in college.  Granted he also spent the first, full two weeks after graduation riding up and down the west coast with his college buddies, a last hurrah or sorts, completely disconnected from the word before reality set in.

His jeep rolled up in front of his dad’s place and he saw the cruiser was in the driveway.  A broad grin pulled across his face- he hadn’t really expected his dad to be home.    He didn’t bother with much beyond his backpack of necessities before bounding up the front walk and letting himself in through the unlocked door.

“Yo Dad,”  he called, “I’m home.”

He was passing the door to the dining room on his way to the kitchen when his gaze was drawn into the room, the table surrounded by three or four of his dad’s deputies.

“Hey Stiles,” Deputy Parrish greeted him as he noticed him in the doorway.

That seemed to get through to his dad who looked up from the pile of papers on the table.  “Stiles!”

Stiles let his dad come over to the doorway and embrace him, clapping him on the back before nodding at the chaos on the table.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

His father looked a little surprised for a moment, “Have you been underground, kid?  There’s been an alpha assigned to Beacon Hills.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you all to such a great response on the epilogue. Serenafray05, I would be happy to have you beta this for me. If you still want to please feel free to reach out to me again in the comments or by email (you can find that in my profile).
> 
> I've had a lot more time and inspiration to work on this than I expected to have with my schedule this summer so I'm hoping to actually update fairly regularly.

 

 

**Chapter 1**

 

 

Stiles had never really been through a coronation before.  The last one he remembered had happened when he was in high school and Santa Barbara had been far enough away that he didn’t really pay much attention aside from catching glances ceremonies and events on the nightly news.  What teenager cared that much about a love story anyway?

This one was just going to be a lot of work.

Taking a job at the sheriff’s office hadn’t been an issue as Stiles prepped to decide if he wanted to go to grad school or find a job; he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his degree yet.  He’d gotten in a bit of trouble as a teenager but knew terms, practices and organization better than anyone; he’d only been studying it since he was six.  Sitting him at the front desk and letting him file, dispatch, and generally know everything that was going on was really just going to make life easier for everyone.

But still, Stiles had never imagined all the planning that went into a visit from an alpha.  They’d received a very rough itinerary.  There were official meetings that would need to happen but aside from knowing where the pack members would be staying and what kind of protection would need to be available for them there was a lot of … well, nothing.  The cops had to be ready for anything, at any time.  That meant unexpected overtime, an on call extra shift of officers and his father’s blood pressure being through the roof.

That was exactly the reason that Stiles had ordered his dad a nice, green salad for lunch.

He looked up with a grimace when Stiles proudly opened the box in front of him.

  “Doctor’s orders,” Stiles claimed before taking the seat across from his dad, digging into his own sandwich.

The sheriff surveyed his son for a moment before reluctantly taking a bite of his salad, still studying him as though considering what to say.

“They’re sending a Hale to Beacon Hills.”

Stiles’ eyebrows rose.  He’d heard a rumor that is was a member of the Hale pack, but that was common in California.  Every time a new alpha rose they imagined it would be a member of the infamous pack.  Stiles still remembered when the Hale’s had actually lived and been centered in town.  He remembered when the fire had happened, been up all night because both of his parents were on the scene, fighting the blaze, helping to locate and try to save as many people as they could .

“It’s one of their sons; we received confirmation from their representation this morning,” he went on, “He’s only a few years older than you.”

“So?”

Stiles knew what his father was saying.  He didn’t want to come out and say that he was worried, or that he couldn’t do anything to stop them, but it was something Stiles was sure every parent worried about.

“Really Dad, out of all the people in Beacon Hills, all of the people who would love to have and alpha pick them and are going to throw themselves at this guy, you think he’s going to look twice in my direction.”

“If-“

“I’m going to play security coordinator.”

The sheriff heaved a sigh, “Just please do not go looking for trouble or get yourself dug into the middle of things.  You have a terrible habit of doing that.”

Stiles slowly chewed the bite of his sandwich he’d ripped off, taking his time to grind it to a paste before swallowing.  It wasn’t his fault that Beacon Hills was nearly always unbearable dull and that made it incredible easy for him to get into things that had been above a high school pay-grade.  But damn, he was an adult now.   Kind of.  He’d been out and actually seen things beyond a small town in the least.

“I promise,” he said sincerely.  “And you’re going to promise to let the deputies take the lead on anything big.  They can handle it.”

The sheriff nodded, before stabbing his fork into another hunk of lettuce, looking almost tortured by it.

“Don’t you have work to be doing?”

 

-

 

He next morning Stiles laughed as he finished a call from Mrs. Baker, who phoned in at least twice a week about the ruffian next door who was surely running an illegal drug ring.  The neighbor that Stiles and the rest of the squad knew for a fact had built a detailing workspace in his garage, one that was completely legal and up to code.  Nevertheless, Deputy Parrish was still on his way over, probably more to shoot the shit with Mike about his dream of new rims for the department cruisers than to address anything illegal.

Filling out the report for the call was basically a copy and paste process by now, which was why Stiles barely glanced up at the three guys about his age who came in the door, past seeing who they were.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” he told them. 

His first assumption was that these were the teens from the apartment downtown who had been giving their neighbors trouble with loud parties.  The sheriff had warned him that they had fines to pay and would probably try to give him the runaround when they came in to try to get out of them.

He forwarded the current paperwork off to one of the deputies and his dad before he glanced up and grinned crookedly. “Good morning.  What can I do for you?”

The one of them who had actually sat down tilted his sharp jaw at one of the other’s, motioning him toward the counter.  The guy scoffed in reply but headed over.  Their interactions plucked a string it Stiles’ chest, making him really miss college for the first time since getting home.

The guy who approached the counter ran a hand through his already messy hair and smiled warmly at Stiles.  He looked like he’d been out in the sun for months and a thick band of black tattoo peeked out from under his sleeve.

“Hey man,” he greeted, voice coming out even more laid back than Stiles had expected. “I’m here to see the sheriff.”

“It’s okay; I’m assigned to handle paperwork.”

“There’s paperwork?”  His face knotted up in confusion.

Stiles snorted, lifting a handful of papers from parking tickets he had yet to put into the system.  “This is a bureaucracy, there’s always paperwork.”

The smile was back.

“Okay, what do I need?”

“Do you have the citations?”

“What citations?” 

The last guy, Stiles was mentally calling him ‘tall and curly’ was stepping up behind his friend, equally confused.

“Those pieces of paper that officers wrote out when they shut down your rager last weekend?  I mean, a keg on the porch, really?  That’s just asking for trouble, especially when it’s a basement level apartment.  I know it sucks but in case you haven’t heard there’s kind of this big event going on that’s sucking up a lot of our attention.  If you keep it inside you probably won’t get bothered by them.”

“Oh my god,” the guy from the chair said, “This kids a stooge.”

“Shut up Jackson,” the first guy sighed back.  He looked back at Stiles, “You’re a cop?”

“I have a criminology degree,” Stiles said, “but no, just an admin.”

“Oh,” he nodded, wiped his hand on his t-shirt and stuck it across the counter to shake Stiles’ hand.  “I’m Scott.  Scott Hale.”

Stiles froze, Scott’s hand still in his, and he could feel the blood rushing to his face. 

Open mouth, insert foot.

“Well, don’t I feel like an idiot.”

Scott laughed, loud and clear. 

“No man, it’s cool.  It happens all the time.”

Both of his friends, his betas Stiles realized, agreed almost completely in unison.

“Well, I guess you do actually need to see the sheriff,” he agreed.  “Let me just…”

He pressed down on the intercom, “Hey Dad, code moonlight in the lobby. Over and out.”

“Dad?” Scott was smiling, trying not to laugh again.

“Hey man, in this economy I am completely okay with getting my first job through nepotism.”

He was about to continue with a joke about Scott doing the same thing when his dad came out into the front room.  It wasn’t that short a walk, Stiles was sure he’d rushed out from his desk.

The sheriff looked between the three newcomers for a moment but the first thing he actually said might have been worse than Stiles’.

“Weren’t there supposed to be four of you?”

Jackson didn’t look up from the flier he was perusing to answer, “He’s being a peon and taking his time parking the car.”

“Dad,” Stiles gained his father’s attention, “Loudmouth over there is Jackson, that is someone,” he pointed at the guy he didn’t know.  “And this is Scott Hale – not one of the hoodlums from the apartment party.”

“Stiles…”

The sheriff was shaking his head, obviously about to say something when the door opened and another guys came in.  This guy was older then the first three, stubble thick across his chin, wearing jeans and a plain, tight  t-shirt that showed off muscled arms.

“Okay, he I would have guessed was a werewolf.” Stiles proclaimed.

“Sheriff, my mom’s told me a lot about you,” Scott said, stepping around the counter.  “These are Jackson, Isaac, and Derek.”

Curly was Isaac, muscles was Derek.  Stiles took note.

The sheriff shook Scott’s hand, and then worked his way down the line as they each approached him in turn.

“We were told to come to talk to you about accommodations.” Scott said once formal introductions had been made.

“And security.” Stiles’ dad had been making plans for that.

“We’ve got that taken care of,” Derek spoke up from where he was standing behind Scott.

“I understand that you’re all probably protective of Scott, but part of the tradition here is working together to strengthen the community.  We don’t know what to expect so I need to be aware of what is going on too, in the very least, so we can have the necessary forces to back you up.”

“We’ll do what we need to,” Scott cut in, before the wolf that was apparently his head of security did so.  “I think we’re really going to be aiming for something more laid back though, no parades or anything.  If we’re doing anything that could end with a mob we will certainly reach out to the department.”

“If you could work out a rough itinerary that we could work with I’d appreciate that.”

“Paperwork,” Stiles chirped.

His dad shot him a look but Stiles ignored it.  He’d been watching the four of them and their stances as they flanked Scott and spoke to the sheriff.  He’d studied pack dynamics almost as much as criminal statistics in college so he recognized the hierarchy.  Interesting Derek was almost as high as Scott.  It was probably an age thing.

“If we could go over some of the town specs it would probably be a good place to start.”  Derek spoke up again.  “It’s been a long time since any of us were here.”

“Of course,” his dad agreed, “let’s go to my office and look over some maps and expectations.”

Derek nodded, “Isaac with me.  Jackson, stay with Scott.”

When then three of them disappeared Stiles watched Scott roll his eyes exaggeratedly. 

“Your babysitter seems to be all business.”

“He means well,” Scott shrugged, not really putting up much of a defense.

 “What the hell is a Stiles?” Jackson asked, leaning against the counter next to Scott.

“A Stilinski with a first name that’s impossible to spell, let alone pronounce.”  By now that was a simple, practiced answer that rolled off his tongue at any time the question was asked.  He turned his attention to back to Scott.

“No parade, huh?  That’s the only part of the last coronation I remember.  But I guess you want to escape some of the crazy attention for a bit?”

“Pretty much,” Scott spread his arms to show off his t-shirt and board shorts, “I’m not really a high maintenance guy, if you can’t tell.”

“Well, unfortunately for you, this is a small town and word is going to spread that you’re here fast.”

Scott’s face fell.  Stiles was entertained by the way he was so expressive and open; he’d expected closed off and rough, especially with the way that the Hales had left town when Stiles was a teenager.

“I mean, I do know a guy who grew up here and knows his way around, especially if you’re trying to avoid the cops and meet people who aren’t going to go around throwing themselves at you.”

“Yeah man, that’d be awesome.”

And that was how Scott and Stiles ended up exchanging numbers as they waited for the sheriff to return, Jackson watching them with something between amusement and annoyance.  He didn’t do anything to stop it thought so Stiles took that as some type of tacit approval.  It was a weird dynamic, Stiles felt like he’d known Scott forever after just ten minutes.

When Derek and Isaac returned Derek had a stack of papers in his hand.  He walked straight to the door, clearly expecting everyone else to follow as well.  Scott exchanged a grin with Stiles before turning to follow.

“See you later, Dude.”

“Later?” the sheriff asked after the door closed.

“We’re gonna hang out so I can show him around town later.”

“Didn’t we _just_ have a discussion about this?”

“Dad,” Stiles looked his father in the eye, “Scott is straight as a fucking arrow; he couldn’t take his eyes off Rollins when she walked through to start her shift.  I think I’m good.”

It didn’t take much convincing on Stiles’ part.  He knew what he was talking about.  His Dad was still tense about the whole thing but at least now it was rolling; now he could go home and relax a little.   Stiles still had to push him out the door at the end of his shift but it was the first time he’d left before Stiles since he’d gotten home.

Stiles’ shift wasn’t over until later that night.  There wasn’t a lot of action through the front door of the Beacon Hills police station after dark, especially if there wasn’t an arrest.  That meant he looked up immediately when the door opened around the time his shift was set to end and was actually surprised to see Derek strolling back into the office.  He walked confidently up to the desk.

“You’re Stiles.”

“Umm… yeah,” Stiles said.  The guy had barely seemed to notice him when they’d all been here earlier; he’d focused his attention solely on the sheriff.

“Scott certainly makes friends fast.”

“Isn’t that a good thing for an alpha, gaining people’s trust and getting them to see his point of view?”

Derek cocked his head, looked at Stiles a bit more carefully than before.

“Or he trusts too easily.”

Stiles supposed that could be true.  “I guess so, but with all four of you being able to hear heartbeats and sense lies I think I’ll take my chances that he’s a cool dude who’s not a total douche like that Jackson guy.”  He paused, “Are all of you werewolves?  I know packs sometimes have human members.”

There was another strange look at that.

“No alpha is going to send their child into a place they’re not familiar with when they only have humans for protection.”

“But the Hales are familiar with Beacon Hills.  They used to live here.”

“Why do you know all of this?” His voice had taken a turn to defensive.

Stiles abruptly realized how creepy he must have sounded to someone he didn’t know. 

“Oh shit, man.  Calm down.  I grew up here.  I was like twelve when the Hale fire happened.  My dad was just a deputy then and my mom was an EMT.  Even before the fire she specialized in werewolf care and I picked up on it, studied a lot in college.”

Derek still looked suspicious, but he held up the packet of papers he’d left with earlier.  “Rough itinerary for the rest of the week.  Scott seems to think you’re going to have some suggestions.”

“Yeah, I could suggest some places to avoid attention.”

Stiles took the packet, “Told him I’d text him after my shift ended.  I’m going to drop these on Deputy Jones’ desk.  He’s the senior officer on duty tonight so he’ll make sure my dad sees them in the morning.”

He was kind of surprised that Derek was still there when he got back.

“Was there something else you wanted?”

“I’m not sure if I trust you.  If I decide I don’t you’re going to stay away from Scott.”

Stiles rolled his eyes as he logged out of the computer, “Don’t be such a sourwolf.  Scott’s a big boy and can make his own decisions.”

He rounded the corner as officer Sanchez came out to start her own shift at the front, wishing both of them a good night and not so subtly looking Derek up and down.  Derek either didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Not when someone is trying to play him into picking them,” Derek said once the door closed behind them and no one would overhear.

“Look,” Stiles rounded on Derek, ignoring the fact that Derek looked like he could take him out with one swing, sans werewolf strength, “Listen to my heartbeat if you think I’m lying. The last thing I want is for an alpha to pick me and take away my choice.  And anyway, unless I am reading the situation way wrong Scott is into girls.”

Derek was quiet for a moment, jaw clenched like it wasn’t information he wanted to disclose.  After a moment he responded.

“Most werewolves have a level of fluidity in their sexuality.  Hormones can be surprising, especially to an alpha.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“Scott’s interested in women historically.” 

The answer sounded like it pained him to say aloud.  Stiles was enjoying this a bit too much.

Stiles was about to reply with a witty comeback when Derek pressed the button on his key fob to unlock his car.  His eyes caught on the sleek, black Camaro and it stopped him in his tracks.

“That’s a bit flashy for someone who wants to stay under the radar, isn’t it?  Wouldn’t it be smarter for Scott to drive something a bit more inconspicuous?”

“It’s mine,” Derek said.

Two and two made four. 

“And if they see Scott in it a few times it’s a good distraction.”  It made sense, an easy decoy move.

Derek’s eyes narrowed again.

“I’m going to stop being a cop’s kid now and say goodnight.”  Stiles responded.  Being killed by a werewolf was probably worse than being chosen by one.  “And that your car is hot.”

He didn’t wait for an answer before heading off toward the jeep.  He could feel Derek’s eyes watching him as he crossed the lot but he didn’t say a word.

 

-

 

When Derek let himself in the door of the small house they’d been put up in all of the boys were waiting with in the living room, tense.

Scott was the first one to jump to his feet, “Where were you?”

“Dropping off your itinerary at the police office,” Derek replied, closing and locking the door, testing its strength slowly.

“You should have brought one of us with you.”

Derek crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m just a beta who’s here to keep you out of trouble.  If I go somewhere on my own it’s not a national event.”

“Next time-”

“We talked about this before we got here guys.”

“Yeah, well none of us want your mom to rip us to shreds because something happened to you on our watch,” Jackson replied.  He’d relaxed considerably since Derek had returned, no longer concerned as per usual.

“We’ll see how it goes.” Derek told them, motioning for Scott to sit down and relax.  “Is there still food left?”

He didn’t wait for a reply before heading into the kitchen to retrieve what was left of the take out containers they’d stopped for on the way to their safe house.

When he returned to the living room he took a seat and dug a fork into the noodles in the half empty box.

“So Stilinski?” he asked, looking at Scott.

“He’s nice.  Cool.” Scott said with a shrug.  “He doesn’t care that I’m who he thinks I am.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“He was steady,” Isaac answered for Scott.  “The whole time we were there, aside from when he found out who we were he didn’t flinch.  He was relaxed but not too interested, like you warned us some people would be.”

“Jackson?”

“He and McCall were made for each other.  They’re both huge nerds, but no, I didn’t pick up any vibes off of him.”

“He was asking me questions,” Derek told them, “Lots of specific questions about werewolves.  Said he studied werewolves in college.  If things feel off – be careful.”

“We know,” Isaac sighed, “You’ve been planning this since you started feeling all your alpha-y  senses.  We know the drill.”

“I still want to know why you picked McCall to be honest,” Jackson said.

“Because he doesn’t act like a jackass and piss off half the room within five minutes of meeting them,” Isaac suggested.

“Stop,” Derek said.  This was an old argument.  He’d heard it a million times and wasn’t interested in continuing it while they were here.  It just upped the possibility of them slipping up.

Derek had picked Scott because he was the most honest of all of them.  He hadn’t been born into it like the others but he wasn’t as skittish and sharp as Isaac or as standoffish as Jackson; he was just a good person.  He and his mother had come into the fold just a few years ago after Scott had been turned in an accident.  Scott had taken to it so much more easily than anyone had expected.  It certainly hadn’t seemed too easy to Scott but Derek was proud of his progress. 

The four of them were relaxed, having spent the past few months gearing up for this, planning their roles and how they would need to act around one another.   The house the town had put aside for them was big enough for them to have their own space, rooms to themselves, but small enough for the pack dynamics they were used to. 

As they all settled into their normal routines it left him alone with Scott in the living room, both taking in their new surroundings while Isaac poked around in the kitchen and Jackson unpacked his overflow of bags upstairs. 

“Thank you,” Derek finally said quietly.  He hadn’t been able to verbalize how grateful he’d been during the planning phase.  Werewolf hearing had made actually talking about their plan impossible in the months leading up to their trip.  Derek still couldn’t believe they were pulling it off.

“You’d do it for me if I had to do something this insane,” Scott replied.  “You’ve done more to help me than anyone, and I get it.  I’m here as long as you need me to pretend.  And Stiles can be good for that plan, introduce me to endless people, be a friend.  You won’t have to rush it.”

He had to admit Scott was right, like it or not, Stiles was a tie to the police force, the local population, likely those around Scott’s age, some years above and below.

“Yeah,” he finally agreed.  “Just be careful around him.  Jackson and Isaac can sometimes be too rough.”

Scott stared at him blankly.  “I do remember being human, you know.  I went to high school with Jackson and Isaac and had to deal with them before everything happened.”

“I remember,” Derek agreed, a fond smile playing across his lips as he remembered the first time Scott had thrown Jackson across the lacrosse pitch after turning.  The look on Jackson’s face when he’d stood up covered in mud had been priceless.

 


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your great feedback! This is the last chapter that I had completed when I began posting so hopefully the res of my summer will not be too busy for me to actually get work done on this. I'm reviewing some offers for betas since I've read over this so many times I don't think I'd recognize an issue if I found one.

 

**Chapter 2**

 

 

 

Derek was impressed at how much they were still flying under the radar in town a few days later. He was sure that every cop within three towns would know them on sight, but they’d given that information to the sheriff. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened yet; no awkward encounters.

But there was Stiles. Not as much as he’d expected, as the kid apparently worked full time at the police station, but enough for Stiles to be a bad influence.

And by bad influence Derek mostly meant he blamed Stiles for introducing them to a new local coffee shop just a few blocks from their safe house that Derek was pretty sure he already couldn’t live a day without.

Usually they made the walk after everyone was up and dressed. For Derek it would have been earlier but some of his companions were fans of sleeping. Others had ridiculous, long morning rituals.

Stiles was already at the counter when they walked in, dropping off an order list before heading to work. He was chatting with the pretty, young Asian barista that was on duty this morning. He waved to them as the bell over the door announced their arrival.

Derek started taking orders as it was his turn to buy, but didn’t even let Jackson start talking.

“You can come with me because I’m not even trying to remember the ten-step order you are about to give before I’ve had caffeine.”

Jackson rolled his eyes but rose from the seat he’d just settled into and followed him up to the counter.

“Morning, guys,” Stiles greeted them as they met him at the counter.

He turned back to the barista, “I’ll be around when my order is ready, and don’t forget Kira, decaf for my dad if he stops by this afternoon. I don’t care what he says.”

She laughed, “He doesn’t even try anymore when he sees me at the counter. Go sit for a while.” Without waiting for him to disappear she turned to them. “What can I get you guys this morning?”

-

Stiles dropped down into the chair next to Scott and tipped back in his seat.

“Glad to see your lively bunch has rolled out of bed to join the rest of us this morning.” He laid on the sarcasm thick as he was running for coffee on his way to his noon shift at work. “Are you sure you’re not nocturnal?”

“Nope,” Isaac replied, popping the p, “but it is a challenge to get Jackson out the door.”

“The rest of us had been for a run and gotten back before he even rolled out of bed,” Scott added with a smirk.

“And now it’s time to load up on caffeine?”

“Every morning.”

Derek and Jackson were back the table settling in with them within the next few minutes. There wasn’t a plan for the day; there never seemed to be. Scott wanted this to be laid back and it was. Stiles was surprised nothing had come up in the papers yet. But then, it was pretty easy to mistake them for a bunch of college kids. It also had to be hard making Scott comfortable in a town where his family didn’t have the best memories.

“Stiles!”

He jumped at the sound of a girl calling his name and whipped his head around. It was a voice he hadn’t actually heard in more than a year.

“Uh, hey Lydia.” The strawberry-blonde goddess of his youthful dreams looked just like she had before they’d gone back to their respective schools for their final year.

She walked over to their table like the hurricane she always had been and leaned against his chair with her hip.

“I hear you’re working at the police station.”

Derek and Isaac were both starting at Stiles, visibly tense. Jackson and Scott were watching Lydia, one with interest, the other confusion.

“Yeah, just at the front desk.” He was wary; Lydia wasn’t one to stop and chat. Typically he wouldn’t see her unless he stumbled upon a party one of their high school friends was throwing.

She tsked at him, “Because giving you a gun would be a brilliant idea.”

“Did you want me to give you a heads up if someone calls in to break up one of your parties?”

“No,” she moved to lean on the edge of the table. “I’ve decided it’s better to let someone else do all the work, as inferior as it may be. I want to know which one is the alpha.” She glanced pointedly around the table.

Everyone froze, Jackson with his drink halfway to his mouth. Isaac’s eyes darted around to see if anyone else had heard.

“Umm… these are my frien-”

She shook her head and cut him off, “No. You’re not the only one who actually has a reason to know something about werewolves. I’m not blind.”

“Lydia, leave them alone.”

Stiles hadn’t even realized Lydia had a friend with her, but the tall brunette finally stepped up next to her, clearly trying not to create a scene as more people were flooding into the shop for a mid-morning fix.

“Hi, I’m Scott.”

Clearly knowing where to cut off the back and forth that he and Lydia could manage Scott had stood and reached out a hand to Lydia. He then turned to her friend.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she replied, stepping up to the table, “I’m Allison.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He was laying on so much charm that even Stiles wanted to roll his eyes. He just sat there, still a bit wary as Scott introduced them around the table. Lydia’s eyes slid across each of them in turn. She and Stiles had just barely gotten to be friends during their senior year of high school, but he knew enough to know she was examining them. He wasn’t sure of her game yet.

“Well,” she said after all of the introductions had been made, “If you guys need an introduction around town in terms of a party, let me know. I may need to revamp my entertaining skills at the lake house.”

She stepped back from the table and wrapped her arm through Allison’s. Her friend still seemed a little caught off guard with the whole thing.

“I’ll talk to you later Stiles. Good to meet the rest of you.”

“Who was that?” Jackson asked when the doors closed behind the girls as they left the shop. It was the first time he’d sounded even remotely impressed since getting to town. Stiles had assumed disinterest was his default setting.

“Lydia Martin,” Stiles sighed, “Everyone’s favorite prom queen and the smartest woman you’ll ever meet.”

“How did she know we were here, Stiles?” Derek asked pointedly. If he were an actual wolf Stiles was pretty sure his hackles would be raised and his teeth would be bared in a threat.

“I don’t know,” Stiles replied. He’d barely talked to anyone outside of the force since they’d arrived in town; his father had him working a full time schedule. It could have just been a chance meeting; Lydia noticed things that other people didn’t. If not, it could mean the days of Scott and the betas moving around town unnoticed were limited.

Kira was waving at him from the counter; his order was ready.

“I’ll ask around,” he told them as he got up.

Scott followed him to the counter, leaving the rest of the team behind. He was quiet until Stiles had checked through all of the drinks to make sure they were right.

“So, do you know Allison too?”

“Wow man, way to be obvious,” Stiles chuckled. “But no, she moved here after we all graduated.”

“Would you ask your friend Lydia about her?”

That was a bigger ask than Scott knew. There were times that Lydia barely tolerated him and asking her about her friend would probably cost him some kind of favor in return.

He nodded and replied mockingly, “Of course Alpha Hale.”

Scott smirked.

“Let me figure out who knows you guys are here, which is going to happen eventually, before Derek decides to rip out my throat with my teeth or something. Then I can focus on actually introducing you to some ladies.”

-

The next morning, exhausted after spending the previous afternoon re-learning the preserve, Derek woke up in his bed to the sound of camera shutters. It woke him like an alarm and he cursed, banging a fist down into the mattress. Isaac started in the next room because of it. It was light out and Derek had slept later than he’d expected to, but he was still slow to rise and make his way over to the window. He barely moved the curtain to glance through.

There were four or five obvious photographers out at the road, snapping photos of the house. None of them seemed to dare to come any closer than the sidewalk but they also weren’t trying to be subtle about taking pictures. They’d never bothered Derek when he’d been home before all this, local photographers had known better than to harass the Hale family in the city but they’d been rampant for Laura’s coronation period.

Isaac poked his head in the door, “Do you think Stiles told them where to find us?”

“No,” Derek sighed, leaning his head against the window frame. The entire police force had been very supportive and the way Scott and Stiles acted around each other already made them seem like they’d grown up together.

Scott and Jackson weren’t far behind them in getting downstairs. There are more people by then, taking pictures outside and that sound was not exactly quiet to werewolf hearing.

“I don’t think we had a plan for this,” Scott said as he pulled the curtains together. Trying to sneak a glance outside from the first floor had only resulted in more cameras snapping away.

“Maybe that was a little dumb of us,” he continued before glancing back and Derek. “What do we do?”

“Go outside and break some cameras?” Jackson suggested just as Derek was about to say he wasn’t sure.

“That is the exact opposite of what we do, and you know it.” It was too early for this.

Derek needed caffeine and a few minutes to just try to relax before he had to think about things.

“Isaac, go get us all some coffee, write down an order if you have to and Scott, maybe make breakfast. I am going to call the sheriff’s office and talk to Stilinski or one of his deputies to figure out what kind of control we have to keep them farther away from the property. Jackson, I want you to patrol the backyard and the woods. I want to make sure that we don’t have anyone trying to get a peek inside the house.”

“I can grab coffee,” Jackson volunteered.

“And have you flash a set of blue, glowing eyes at the guys outside when one of them gets too close? I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

It wasn’t an insult; not from Derek. His eyes had been blue until a few months ago. Isaac was really the only one he could send.

They snapped pictures of Isaac on his way out and his way back to the house, but with Jackson downstairs and Derek watching from upstairs while on the phone there were no real disturbances. As it turned out, he had been right, it wasn’t anyone they knew who had alerted the press. It had been a neighbor who had been suspicious of four young men moving into the house down the street without much in the way of belongings a week before. Her suspicions only grew when she saw them go almost everywhere together.

Sometimes Derek really hated when people picked up on werewolf and pack habits. Undoubtedly half the town was browsing Wikipedia to learn the basics this morning.

Now they had to do something official, go down to the station, and do an interview and a photo opp. They’d mostly want to talk to Scott but they’d all have to be there and have their stories straight. It was the first time anyone would really be putting pressure on their plans.

There was a crowd gathered outside by the time the four of them had gotten themselves to look presentable and made their way out to the car. Some of them were cheering or booing, but a lot of them were just taking pictures, watching the spectacle. Derek drove. He always felt better when he was behind the wheel, and fortunately people moved out of the way with little complaint. Only a few cars followed them.

“Well, we tried,” Sheriff Stilinski greeted them when they walked into the police station.

Derek nodded in agreement as Scott thanked the Sheriff for going along with their plan. They had managed to narrow it down to one interview with the local paper. Sure, the story would be copied by other papers and would spread across the state in the very least, but at least they wouldn’t be going through the same thing over and over.

Scott was typing away on his phone in one hand while they waited.

“Who’s that?” Jackson asked.

“Stiles.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “There are going to be rumors that you’ve already found _the one_ before we leave the building.”

“He’s talking to Lydia about Allison for me later.”

Derek wasn’t annoyed that Scott was interested in a girl. He was allowed to flirt and go out, and Scott had never really been one to meet girls the way Jackson and Isaac had gone through them before. Plus, Scott was bad at being subtle.

“You’re _really_ not helping your case.” Isaac laughed.

Derek held out his hand as Scott typed off one last message and put the phone into his pocket once Scott relinquished it.

“Why isn’t Stiles here?” Isaac asked.

“It’s his day off and I asked him to do some recon for me,” Scott replied. “He’s going to stop by to fill me in later.”

“That might not be a good idea today,” Derek started to explain. He was interrupted when one of the deputies led over the reporter who was going to be interviewing them.

The woman was younger than Derek’s mother, but not by much. She greeted all four of them with respect, without acting like they were just a bunch of kids. Maybe she’d been around for a coronation before.

Scott sat with her in the office’s break room while the rest of them sat close by. Jackson and Isaac were seated on the other side of the table and Derek stood against the counter, keeping one eye on Scott and the other on the door.

The questions started off easy enough, just basic things about growing up as part of the Hale pack and the development from a beta to an alpha. Derek had given Scott the rundown over the past month. She knew the right questions but obviously wasn’t as well versed in information about werewolves as she could have been. Scott was playing himself off as the regular guy, exactly what Derek wanted.

“The Hale fire was almost ten years ago now. Can you tell me how you feel coming back to the town after that experience? How is your father doing all these years later?”

The question caught Derek off guard for a moment but once he caught himself he growled openly at the reporter.

“There will be no questions about the fire.”

The women looked a bit taken aback by his growl.

“But he’s in Beacon Hills where it happened. Surely-”

“As always, if you have any questions about the fire on the Hale estate here in town you will direct them to Alpha Talia Hale’s press office.”

His tone left no room for argument and he’d stepped up right behind Scott, putting a hand on his shoulder in support. Or because he felt sick.

The woman looked at him, likely considering what would happen if she directed the questions at Scott again. She seemed to think better of it and moved on, putting on a forced smile.

“Well, rumor has it you boys have been in town over a week now. Have you met anyone who catches your eye?”

Scott shrugged, “We’ve really been trying to get comfortable in town before we go about with the coronation process. A lot of alphas visit their territories before everything gets announced, but even though I grew up here it still feels new and different coming back. I didn’t know the whole town anymore, let alone the people.”

The reporter didn’t deviate from approved lines of questioning for the rest of her interview. It was exactly what Derek, and in turn Scott had been prepared for.

There was a brief photo op on the front steps of the station. Derek stood slightly behind Scott on the top step while Jackson and Isaac stepped down as though they were protecting him from the crowd. The pictures were going to come out wrong so Derek wasn’t sure why they even bothered. At least he could depend on them to use last names when quoting Scott in the article. His mother, sisters, and the rest of the family would see him standing behind his betas standing tall, while the rest of the world would see him guarding Scott’s back.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Isaac asked once the crowd had dispersed outside.

They’d waited for it back inside the station as the deputies sent people on their way. Derek had talked a bit with the sheriff about the plan around their house going forward. He wanted himself, Jackson and Isaac to be in charge of patrols; they’d be necessary now. He was not opposed to a little help from the police if a crowd turned out to cause problems.

“We’re going to spend some time at the house.”

A chorus of groans was the response he received. Derek hated being cooped up in one place more than anyone but when circumstances changed it was best to be cautious.

-

Stiles rang the doorbell at the Martin household with a pit of dread in his stomach. He knew he wasn’t going to get much information from Lydia without something in return, be it information or a detailed, convoluted favor.

He forced a smile when Lydia’s mom opened the door. Stiles was her favorite and she greeted him warmly as she him inside.

Lydia was in the back yard, stretched out on a reclining chair by the pool. She didn’t look at all shocked to see him. She smiled and sat up a bit, pushing her sunglasses up to the crown of her head.

“You won that Field’s Medal yet?”

“No,” she responded, waving her hand a bit dismissively at the idea. “I’ve been making other plans.”

“Oh, really? Like what?”

She ignored him, “It’s good to see you. It’s been a while since you’ve been at the house.”

“Well, you stopped throwing parties after sophomore year of college and you don’t exactly invite me around like when we were in high school. To be honest, I was surprised to see you back in town. I thought for sure you’d have a job straight out of school to help start executing your plans for world domination.”

“I did. I decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do though. I’ve got a plan.”

That was as terrifying now as it had been years ago. Every time Lydia said she had an idea for each project they’d worked on together for advanced Chem he’d ended up putting in tons of extra work that went far beyond the original parameters of the assignment. He felt like it wasn’t really going to be any different now.

“So, what are you doing here?” she asked.

He sighed, “Scott wants me to ask you about Allison.”

“I thought he might.”

“Smugness is not an attractive quality, Lydia.”

She didn’t care, hadn’t since she realized being smart did so much to boost all of her other qualities. She was one of the few people Stiles would never bet against.

“What’s in it for me to help him?”

“Favor with a new alpha?” Stiles shrugged. “The kindness of your heart.”

“I’m looking for a little more than that.”

“Why don’t we just cut to the chase and you can tell me what you want?”

“I want to be the chief of staff for Scott once this is all over.”

Ok, that was a little more than Stiles expected.

“And you think I can promise you that? I’ve known Scott a week. I don’t even know if I’m going to still be in town by the time this thing is over. And even if I was, he’s only met Allison once. How do we know they won’t hate each other?”

“We don’t,” Lydia agreed, “But I want you to make it known that I’m interested in the position. You know how I work.”

“Yes, blackmail and slander mostly.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a baby. Talia Hale’s press secretary is amazing, and her entire team has done a great job at since the fire, especially as all her children have gone through coronations, but I think I can do better.”

He considered her carefully. Lydia had been intimidating in high school and was involved with just about everything she could be at her competitive college. She was probably just as focused now.

“I’ll mention it to Scott when the time is right.”

“That’s all I ask.”

She reached for her tablet on the table next to her and opened it, sliding her fingers gracefully across the screen. It reminded Stiles of the crush he’d had on her growing up. It was probably more based on the poise and confidence he hadn’t had and emulated more than anything else.

“So, Allison?”

“That’s what I’m trying to show you,” she explained, but she continued to talk as she searched for something.

“Her name is Allison Argent. Does that surname ring a bell for you?”

“Only vaguely.”

She passed him her tablet. On it was a photo of an older man standing at a podium with a government seal on it. It was surrounded by a general historical outline on the man himself.

“Allison’s family moved to Beacon Hills right after graduation because her father and grandfather had a bit of a falling out and the family wanted to live closer to where she went to college. That is Gerard Argent, the grandfather. He was a senator in Arizona for sixteen years and had a history of being involved in anti-werewolf legislation.

“Anyway, her family has had a history with werewolves since long before that. They were hunters as recently as fifty years ago, pretty good ones at that. There are all kinds of historical documents from almost a century ago, around the time the existence of werewolves became public knowledge and the whole alpha change started being recognized.  
Her grandfather’s yearly vacation typically included hunting actual wolves. The pictures are pretty disgusting.” Her face twisted up a bit in revulsion, obviously having looked at a number of documents. “Most of the anti-werewolf bills he supported didn’t get passed, and he worked on a lot of other things but there were some extreme measures he tried for.”

“That’s not promising.”

Lydia shrugged, “That was why Mr. Argent left, I guess. He was working for his father and Allison said they had a huge disagreement over a bill Gerard was trying to pass, I think it was the registration act, but he quit and moved them out here. I think he saw the reality of today, Allison certainly does, and she was really taken with Scott.”

“Seriously?”

“She said he was cute, kind of gushed about him being so nice even though we interrupted your coffee and outed them at the shop. She was afraid everyone heard us. It doesn’t have anything to do with today though. My mom and I overheard Mrs. Williamson gossiping at the country club over the weekend. I’m sure word has been spreading like fire across town.”

“So, should I tell Scott to go ahead and call her?”

“No, Mr. Argent would flip. He’s incredibly overprotective. Even Allison was a little wary at the idea of seeing Scott again. She didn’t think he was the alpha and that is a lot of pressure, you know.”

“Yeah, my dad told me not to put myself in the middle of things and attract attention.”

“Well, you’ve done a wonderful job, clearly,” she responded, raising an eyebrow.

“The first time I met them I thought they were college kids coming in to pay fines.”

Lydia started at him for a moment before bursting into the most undignified laughter Stiles had heard in months. It reminded him of senior year, spending hours in the Martin’s living room working on projects and joking with Lydia when she’d finally given him a chance, and after his crush had faded into obscurity.

“That sounds like something you would do. I think that instead of setting them up on their own you and I should arrange a few more chance meetings, maybe at the coffee shop or somewhere else around town, before they actually get together. Maybe then even get a bunch of people together. If Scott really wants this to be more laid back than coronations tend to be it would give him a chance to stay under the radar in terms of the public. I can see who we know that’s back in town and plan an event.”

“You’re really jockeying for that job, aren’t you?”

Lydia let a proud smile grace her face. “I will absolutely slay at the job and you know it.”

He had to agree. Lydia could terrify anyone as far as he was concerned. She’d even knocked the sheriff off his game once or twice in the past. Plus, she had a few of the deputies wrapped around her little finger.

“To be honest,” she told him, “I was kind of surprised about Scott myself. I was almost certain the older one was the alpha when I saw you at the coffee shop.”

“Derek?”

“Yes,” she agreed. “He just physically looks the part like you’d expect.”

“I mean, there’s not really a typical werewolf size or shape, but I guess I see what you mean. After learning so much about them it was hard for Stiles to fall back on old assumptions.

“But he’s also the only one who acts like the stereotypes too, essentially threatening me if anything I do around Scott seems weird. After you introduced yourself I was sure he was going to put me through a wall.”

“I thought dominant was your type.” Lydia smirked, “I mean Malia certainly was and even after you realized that wasn’t quite what you were looking for I seem to remember a string of pretty imposing guys popping up on all your social media accounts in college.”

Stiles blushed. When he’d dated Malia she’d certainly been the one in charge of things in their relationship –but it had been high school so that hadn’t meant much.

He and Lydia had been discussing control and manipulation in Wuthering Heights for English one evening when Stiles had suddenly stumbled upon some sort of passage and frozen up. When Lydia had prompted him he’d just sort of blurted out that he wanted to break up with Malia because he thought he might be more into guys than her boobs.

“Yes, but none of them could keep up with my wit or intellect,” he responded. “I’m pretty sure the being able to hear when I’m bullshitting him and the constant unspoken feeling that I’m a threat to their safety is off-putting.”

“So you don’t think he’s hot?”

“I’m not blind.”

Her smile was almost triumphant. She closed her tablet and started gathering her things from the lounger.

“I am going to forward you the information I have on Gerard Argent and the family’s history. You can probably dig up more information than I have without much effort. Allison and I will be at the diner on South Main Street on Saturday. I know it’s a while off but it will give time for the mess with the media to blow over. We have brunch at ten every Saturday, and next week is the first full moon while they’re in town. Best to get things started in the very least.”

Oh yeah, Lydia was getting that job.

It was also a very clear signal that their visit was over. That had always been one of Lydia’s tricks. She was amazing at dismissing people and leaving no room for argument. She walked Stiles to the door and Stiles pecked her on the cheek before he left.

“Thanks for your help.”

“Only for you. See you Saturday.”

-

He was stopping for groceries on the way back home when he dug his phone out of his pocket to call Scott. He figured he should just tell him the good news about Allison for now. Lydia had been pro-werewolf fairly publicly as long as Stiles could remember and he was certain she had an accurate read on Allison, if not the rest of her family.

He dialed as he pushed the cart toward the produce section to stock up on veggies for his father. It rang a few times before being picked up.

“Hello?”

Familiar, but not the voice that Stiles was expecting.

“Derek? Why do you have Scott’s phone?”

There was a moment of silence, then a response. “Took it while he was being interviewed, must have forgotten to give it back.”

“How did that go?” He could always ask Scott later if Derek didn’t give him anything.

“As well as could be expected.” Derek sounded annoyed. Stiles wasn’t sure if it was in regards to the interview of the question he’d just posed.

Stiles wasn’t quite sure what “expected” was in this case but he figured he’d be able to find the story online within a few hours anyway.

“Is Scott around? I talked to Lydia about that girl he met.”

“No, I’m out on a security run. You can give me the update though, I’ll tell Scott.”

Stiles paused for a moment. It wasn’t quite a message he wanted to pass along in a game of telephone. Letting Derek have sway over Scott’s dating life, with him being so protective, what kind of information could he really expect would be passed along?

“I can just swing by this afterno-”

“We’re not doing visitors right now; there’s a crowd outside.” He sounded impatient, “I need you to run it by me anyway. It’s my job to make sure Scott’s safe.”

“She’s a girl he’s never met who thinks he’s cute, but is a bit freaked out by the whole alpha coronation thing. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with her.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Lydia suggested group things so they can get to know each other without the media stalking them. The only thing I’ve found you might not like is Lydia.”

“The redhead?”

“She’s jockeying for a job for Scott once things get sorted out.” If he needed to be up front with Derek about Scott just meeting someone, he should probably know about Lydia’s intentions before things got too far.

Derek got very quiet. Stiles wondered if they’d been disconnected.

“I don’t think Scott’s anywhere near there yet.”

“Yeah, I tried to tell her that but Lydia is very, ummm…. ambitious.” It was the kindest word he could find. He knew Lydia well and while he didn’t consider her determination a bad thing, calling her cutthroat wouldn’t go over well with the unfamiliar crowd.

“She had a suggestion for this weekend if things have settled down a bit.”

“Well, I will pass that on to Scott next time I see him. I need to go.”

Stiles heard the dial tone before he had a chance to respond. “Okay. You’re welcome.”

He pushed his cart through the store grabbing weekly purchases off the shelves out of habit, already pondering what information he might find on the Argent Family once he got home. He wanted Scott to have all the details if he needed them. It didn’t matter that Derek was head of security, he felt weird not going directly to the source with something like this.

-

A security run right then meant taking a walk around the perimeter of the house and avoiding the photographers who had shown up shortly after they’d gotten back. Derek had also spent some time searching the woods behind the house. He’d heard stories from Laura of people hiding on property, waiting for someone to come close enough. It seemed people weren’t that brave yet. There was some disturbed foliage, like someone had clumsily been trying to find a good place to watch the house, but the faded scents told him they’d abandoned that idea hours ago.

He let himself in through the kitchen door and dug through the refrigerator to find something to eat when he finished his round. There was still a crowd of people milling around out front, but the sun hadn’t gone down yet. He would bring the others for rounds a few more times throughout the night as he felt it was needed. None of them were going to sleep well if all these people were outside.

As it was he could hear them chattering, gossiping, and taking pictures outside. People had been coming and going since that morning. Derek was good at filtering it out; what he was really focused on were the three heartbeats in the next room. Scott and Jackson were more calm about the whole thing but Isaac was on edge as the three of them played Halo, more so even than that Derek.

When he left the kitchen they all looked up at his approach and Scott offered him a controller. He declined with a shake of his head and sat down in the spot on the couch Jackson had vacated out of habit.

“Find anything?” he asked, not taking his eyes of the screen.

“There were some people out in the woods in the backyard earlier,” he told them, poking at the leftover chicken on his plate with his fork. “There were broken branches and tramples bushes. They’ve already gone and the scent is faded but I want us to make sure we are checking out there.”

“Do you think it was just some kids or someone who’s really watching?” Isaac side-eyed Derek quizzically, anxiety heightening.

Derek stretched his arm across the back of the couch to press his fingers into Isaac’s neck, a comforting embrace for his friend. He relaxed, but only slightly.

“Couldn’t really tell. There are houses on the other side of the woods so it could just have been some curious kids. We’ll keep an eye on it. Next round should be after the sun goes down. Hopefully the crowd out front will go home.”

He finished his food and watched them play without much conversation as the afternoon turned into evening. The game was loud but did not completely drown out the sound of people outside. By the time it was actually dark most of them had left, though there remained a few stragglers like Derek had expected.

When he’d decided it was time for another round he turned to Jackson. “Go find some shoes, I want you to do a sweep with me.”

Jackson heaved a sigh, feigning annoyance but rose to retreat to his room. Isaac followed when Derek raised an eyebrow at him. That left Derek alone with Scott.

“What do you want to tell me?” Scott asked. “You don’t need to send them away to do it.”

Derek grinned to himself; it had always impressed him that Scott was able to read situations so well. He took Scott’s phone out of his pocket and passed it over without a word. Scott took it and swiped his finger across the screen out of habit.

“Stiles called earlier, about that girl. Even if you like her you’re going to need to play it down, you’re not the one that needs to find a mate.”

“I know, she’s just…” Scott shrugged.

Derek actually smiled at that, Scott’s nervousness.

“His friend Lydia, the redhead is going to set up some group events. Allison will be there, so will other people, you can get to know them, I can too. Stiles said Lydia wants a job when things are finished and she seems to be helping strong community ties. It’s smart.”

“Okay.”

“Talk to Stiles. I’m sure he didn’t tell me everything. You’re the alpha so I’m sure he’s saving some pieces of information just for you. Just let me know if there’s anything important that comes up.”

“You’re trusting me to judge and tell you what’s important?”

“If I didn’t trust you I wouldn’t have brought you back to Beacon Hills with me. And I definitely wouldn’t have asked you to do this.”

Jackson appeared back in the doorway to the room, ready to check the darkness outside. Derek went with him, planning to show the other two the spots in the woods the following morning. They also needed to keep an eye on the crowds out front, let the police station know if there was any concerning behavior.

-

Stiles was gaming on his computer, eating takeout, pretty typical fare for a night off when his dad was working the night shift. Scott and Isaac had been playing pretty frequently in the evenings so he was hoping to get to talk to Scott tonight. He’d done some research during the afternoon and felt a little bit more comfortable with the Argent history he’d found- he’d even found the article on Beacon Hills’ newest Alpha just minutes after it had been published.

He pinged Scott almost as soon as he signed online and once hey connected wasted no time with his exclamation.

“Dude, Derek looks like he’s out to kill anyone who even looks at you wrong,” Stiles told him before even exchanging greetings.

“What?” Scott sounded confused and Stiles really hoped this wasn’t one of those situations where Derek was right next to him and could hear every word Stiles was saying.

“I’m looking at the article with your interview from this morning. They only released it about two hours ago but it already has millions of hits. Looks like we should expect the hordes of tourists to start visiting Beacon Hills soon.”

“I hope not,” Scott replied.

“Well, in any case, Lydia and I have some stuff in the works.”

“Yeah, Scott said, "like what?”

“Well, there’s this girl Allison who thinks you’re kind of adorable and always has brunch Saturday mornings at the diner on the edge of downtown.”

“She said that?”

Stiles shrugged, “I heard it second hand from Lydia but it sounds like it, yeah. They have brunch there every weekend so if we happen to run into them it wouldn’t be that hard for you to make friends. That’s not too close to the full moon is it?”

“No, a few days before.”

“Good.” He waited a moment before leaning back in his chair. “So, I may have omitted some stuff about Allison when I talked to Derek.”

“I think he suspects that,” Scott agreed, “What’s wrong?”

“Okay man,” Stiles started up, “So let me start by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Allison, okay? Lydia has known her for years and vouches for her, and from what I see she seems like actually normal, not completely fucked up, but her granddad might be a problem.”

“Why?”

“Have you ever heard the name Gerard Argent?”

Scott was quiet but then groaned, “The asshole senator from Arizona, the one who wanted all werewolves registered and tested for dangerousness?”

“That is the one.” Stiles would hear the trepidation in Scott’s voice and rushed to continue before he could start to worry.

“But listen, Allison isn’t like that, and apparently Gerard is really the last of her family to be on that particular bandwagon. According to some reports her dad and Gerard had a huge falling out when that bill got proposed. Mr. Argent had been on his staff and flat out quit and moved the family out here and it looks like the relationship has been strained ever since. There are no pictures of any of them on his campaign trail or even at his concession speech after he lost reelection. I mean, Beacon Hills would have a field day if some big-shot senator visited, so I don’t think he’s ever even been here.

“Her dad is completely legit too. He works in marketing for some big PR firm outside the Hills and his stuff is all really modern and with the times. I think he worked on a few projects for your mom’s philanthropy thing.”

Scott snorted, “Which one?”

“The preserves in northern California I think, to limit hunting of actual wolves and coyotes. I’m sorry about that man, Gerard has some pictures of his catches there, and it’s really gross.”

“Yeah,” Scott agreed, he’d seen those pictures more than once.

“If you an Allison hit it off I’m sure my dad can run a background check on him just to be sure.” Stiles promised, trying to lighten the mood. “Or I can hack into his computer. My mom’s birthday is always the password.”

That at least got Scott to laugh. Stiles would keep digging; he would talk to Allison about her family rather than letting one of the werewolves do it. He wasn’t too sure how she’d take to a wolf sizing her up. Most importantly he’d leave it up to Scott what he passed on to Derek.

“Okay then,” he said, “now that I’ve given you all that information, how about you let me kick your ass at Call of Duty.”

“Scott snorted, “Keep dreaming.”

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I love any feedback. You can also find me on tumble and twitter under the same username.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently it's been more that two years since I've posted, but from what I've written so far this may be fairly long. Since I've been a bit in and out of this fandom I am also looking for a beta because I am sure I'm missing mistakes throughout and always want feedback.


End file.
